


i never planned on someone (like you)

by spaceburgers



Series: (falling in love at the) coffee shop [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Dialogue Heavy, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, M/M, Slow Build, brief mention of kuroo/kenma, cameo appearances by kenma and daichi, suga-san matchmaker extraordinaire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-20
Updated: 2014-06-20
Packaged: 2018-02-05 11:25:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1816846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceburgers/pseuds/spaceburgers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><blockquote>
  <p>“I mean,” Suga continues, “I think you guys have the potential to be really good friends.”</p>
  <p>Just as he finishes speaking Hinata slips and bashes his head into the edge of the counter.</p>
</blockquote>Or, wherein Hinata and Kageyama are baristas at a coffee shop.
            </blockquote>





	i never planned on someone (like you)

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday jay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and happy birthday hinata too!!!!!!!!!! is there a difference between those two sentences? no, not really
> 
> this fic is dedicated to jay, within whom i wouldn't even be writing this fic in the first place, because without whom i wouldn't have ended up so deep in volleyball hell i don't even remember what my life was like before haikyuu sundays anymore
> 
> EDIT: hello!! bringing you guys a public service announcement - i'm currently open for fic commissions, so if you guys would like to help me out i'd really really appreciate it if you checked out my [commission page](http://oikawhat.tumblr.com/commissions)! thank you!!

Hinata sits in a chair, hands twisting nervously in his lap, as he smiles, tries to remember to be polite, and bullshits his way through yet another job interview that’s bound to go wrong.

(He hopes he’s wrong.)

At least the ambience is nice, he thinks. It’s a small, quaint café, one he’s been to a couple of times after class, and he likes it. Compared to his last workplace (McDonalds—a disaster practically waiting to happen, honestly, in retrospect) this place is practically heaven, and that thought makes him sit up a little straighter, try to look just a little bit smarter, in the hopes that someone, anyone will _finally_ hire him (and not promptly fire him two days later).

“I have experience,” Hinata says, swallowing.

 _At, like, ten different places,_ he doesn’t say.

His potential boss-to-be, a bespectacled man with dark flyaway hair, nods, smiling encouragingly, and Hinata tries to offer a smile back. It probably just comes out looking squeamish.

“Why did you leave your previous employer?” the man asks— _Takeda-san, his name is Takeda-san,_ Hinata reminds himself mentally. He’s still smiling, though, which Hinata takes as a good sign.

“I just didn’t like the working environment,” he says, which isn’t a lie, at least. Not really.

 _Got fired_ , he doesn’t say. _Like all my previous stints at landing a job._

Takeda-san nods again, and writes something down on the notebook he has in front of him. It takes all of Hinata’s willpower now to attempt to peek at what he’s writing. Something tells him he doesn’t quite want to know.

There’s a silence as Takeda-san continues writing, and Hinata watches the rhythmic way his pen moves over the paper. He’s frozen in place, toes curling and uncurling, and he’s starting to sweat a little, too, he can feel it on the back of his neck, he really, really wants to wipe at it but somehow he can’t seem to bring himself to _move_ —

“So,” Takeda-san says, finally looking up, putting his pen down. He’s smiling. “When can you start work?”

Hinata’s eyes widen, and before he knows it he’s leapt to his feet, grinning for the first time since he stepped foot into this interview, like he can’t quite believe his luck.

-

Hinata can’t believe how _bad_ his luck is.

So—the day had started out pretty well. Arrived on time, introduced himself, bowed at and smiled at his new co-workers (Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san seemed nice enough, but there was this other guy, Kageyama, that Hinata just prays and hopes that he’ll never end up in the same shift with ever again), and then got to work straightaway with a general tour of the café and learning how to work the cashier.

And then all was fine and dandy and he’d served coffee to a couple of customers without incident, smiling at them and wishing them a good day, and it was actually kind of nice when some of them smiled back and said nice things too, and Hinata was starting to think that _hey, I could really get used to this job_ when—

“Here you go, that’ll be—”

He’s not quite sure how it happens, but somehow his hand slips, the paper cup in his hand tipping over precariously—

In short, he almost spills this guy’s order of a medium cappuccino to go all over him.

On his very first day. Which is, yeah, just his luck.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, are you—” Hinata sets the almost-spilled cup of coffee back down on the counter—it’s spilling over the cap, just a little bit, brown drops of coffee rolling down the side of the cup—and awkwardly reaches out to grab a wad of paper towels to— _to what? Pat the guy dry? He’s not even actually wet!_

Hinata settles with using it to wipe at the sides of the cup, even though it’s about at useful as trying to get a four-year-old child to solve a calculus problem.

He chances a look at the guy’s face, and then regrets the decision almost immediately, because the guy looks absolutely _thunderstruck_.

“I—I’m sorry, but the coffee’s fine, see, so… so…” The words die in Hinata’s throat when the guy looks no less mollified by his (pathetic) attempt at rectifying the situation, and Hinata immediately changes tracks, trying to find something else he could possibly say, when—

“ _Hinata_.”

He doesn’t recognise the voice, not immediately, but then he turns and sees Kageyama standing behind him, and _oh_.

Kageyama marches over, grabs Hinata by the collar of the shirt, mutters a quick, “I’m sorry for my co-worker, he’s new,” before practically _dragging_ Hinata away, leaving a very confused customer still standing by the counter.

“Let me _go_ ,” Hinata hisses, but Kageyama ignores him, just keeps on dragging him until they’re out of sight of the customers; only then does he let go of Hinata’s shirt, and Hinata grumbles sourly, rubbing his neck.

“What the hell, Kageyama?” he says, rounding on Kageyama.

“That’s _my_ line,” Kageyama answers straightaway, glaring down at Hinata, arms folded so tightly Hinata’s just surprised that he can still feel his hands. “You’re the one who screwed up on his very first day, what kind of barista doesn’t even know how to _hold_ a cup of coffee properly—”

And yeah, sure, so maybe there’s a pretty big height difference between them, but Hinata’s not scared at him at all. Instead he lifts his chin, looks right back at Kageyama, says, “Way to be a crazy dictator, I mean, like you said, it’s _just_ my first day, can’t a guy make a mistake around here—”

“A mistake like accidentally handing a guy the wrong dollar bill or putting a bit too much milk in someone’s order, whatever, but what kind of idiot basically _spills_ coffee on a customer?”

“Hey, for the record, I didn’t actually spill it—”

“Thank _fuck_ you didn’t, but you _almost_ did, which is bad enough—”

“But I—”

“ _Hey, you two!_ ”

Their shouting match is interrupted by a third voice, and both Hinata and Kageyama turn to look in the direction of that voice at the same time.

It’s Tanaka, folding his arms and looking distinctly _un_ amused.

“If you guys are done,” he says, jerking his thumb in the direction of the order counter, “we need someone to help man the cashier.”

 _That_ finally brings the both of them back to their senses, and Hinata bows lowly, his cheeks heating up, and even Kageyama looks a little shamefaced ( _or is it just defiance, Hinata can’t really tell_ ), looking down at his feet in silence.

“S-sorry, Tanaka-san,” Hinata mumbles, ducking his head, and goes to follow Tanaka back out to the main serving area.

And if he turns around to stick his tongue out at Kageyama as he goes, well, what Tanaka-san doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

-

“This sucks,” Hinata mumbles to himself as he finds himself poised at the cashier once more while behind him, Kageyama gets to work at brewing their first order of the day.

“Sorry?” the customer—a tall dark-haired girl with glasses—asks, looking confused, and Hinata flushes, waving his hands frantically in front of him.

“N-no, it’s nothing, I was just talking to myself!” he rambles, and the girl blinks, but doesn’t say anything else.

But… yeah. As he was saying. It’s honestly just his luck to have ended up on the same shift as Kageyama— _alone_ —on Mondays. As if Mondays weren’t shitty enough already. No, he just _had_ to spend them with a certain grouchy-ass coffee-making perfectionist.

He considers asking for a change in shifts, but it’s really not worth it—he doesn’t want to get fired from this job, because as much as he can’t stand Kageyama, it’s _so_ much better than McDonalds or that department store down the street where he once almost got trampled to death during a sale.

So… for now. He’ll endure it.

At least for the other shifts where they’re together, he has the other guys like Tanaka-san and Suga-san to act as a buffer between them. So, really, when you think about it that way, it’s just a once a week affair for a few hours. Hinata can handle this. He’s handled way worse. Screaming children. Misplaced orders. Setting the kitchen on fire. He can deal with an annoying co-worker. In fact, after everything he’s been through, this is practically _nothing—_

“Oi. Dumbass.”

 _Yeah. Practically nothing_.

“Quit spacing out,” Kageyama calls from behind him, and Hinata turns around, frowning. “Here’s the order.”

“Sorry,” Hinata mumbles, snatching the cup from Kageyama’s grip ( _carefully, though, carefully_ ), before turning back to face the customer with a smile already back in place.

“Thanks for stopping by,” he says. “Hope you have a great day!”

The girl blinks, looking surprised, before she smiles back hesitantly.

“Thank you,” she says, quietly, before taking her leave, cup in hand, and Hinata watches her go with a vague sense of satisfaction which is… strange, but not entirely unwelcome.

“Hey,” Kageyama calls again, and Hinata turns around, a scathing reply already on the tip of his tongue.

“Good job,” he says, suddenly transfixed by some spot on the wall in front of him. “You’re good at talking to customers.”

And the _what the hell, Kageyama_ that Hinata was already getting ready to deliver gets stuck in the back of his throat instead.

_Wait. What?_

“Buh?” Hinata says instead, intelligently, and just like magic Kageyama’s face twists into his usual scowl again.

“Forget it,” he growls. “Suga-san said to try to be _nice_ to you but I can see that it’s not going to work.”

Hinata visibly _bristles_ at that comment. “Well maybe if you stuck your head out of your ass long enough to realise that your definition of _nice_ is seriously screwed up, then—”

The bell signifying the entrance of a customer jingles, then, and they jump apart, Hinata returning to the cashier and Kageyama to the coffee machine, and they don’t speak for the rest of their shift together.

-

“What am I going to do, Suga-san?” Hinata groans, resting his head against the surface of the counter. It’s a slow day, and there aren’t any customers for now, which gives them space to talk without fear of being overheard. Which is nice—Hinata has learnt, over the weeks that he’s been working here (without getting fired, which is a definite achievement), to appreciate moments like these, especially when he’s on the same shift with Suga-san.

Hinata likes Suga-san a lot. He’s quite possibly the nicest person Hinata’s ever met in his entire life.

Even though they’ve only known each other a couple of weeks, still, Suga-san just feels likes someone Hinata can trust—which is why he’s here, now, pressing his cheek into the wood of the counter and complaining to him about a certain prissy co-worker with a tendency to comment on every single thing that Hinata’s doing wrong (which is basically _everything_ , according to Kageyama.)

“Well,” Suga-san says, coming over to stand next to Hinata, leaning back against the counter as well, “have you ever tried just… talking to him?”

“No, I don’t have a death wish,” Hinata responds immediately, pulling a face. “Trying to talk to Kageyama is like trying to reason with a lion that hasn’t eaten in two days.”

Suga-san laughs, then, which Hinata doesn’t understand, there’s nothing funny about the prospect of getting his head chewed off by Kageyama, and he says as much, which just makes Suga-san laugh even harder.

“Oh, he’s not as bad as you think he is.”

“You’re just saying that because he’s actually halfway decent to you,” Hinata mumbles, frowning. “Because you’re nice. And you’re our senior.”

“Then maybe you should try being nice too?” Suga-san suggests, and Hinata groans loudly.

“That’s what you told Kageyama too, wasn’t it? And then he just ended up saying something _weird_ and completely flipping out on me when I got confused—”

“Wait,” Suga-san says, and Hinata turns his head to the side to see Suga-san peering down at him, eyebrows raised. “What exactly did he say to you?”

“He… he _complimented_ me, I guess,” Hinata says, making a face like he just swallowed something particularly sour, because the word _complimented_ just doesn’t belong anywhere near a guy like Kageyama. “He said I was doing a good job at talking to customers or something like that, and then when I was like _huh?_ he got all mad at me and said it was useless trying to be nice to be or something along those lines, and then obviously _I_ got mad too, because I wasn’t just going to take something like that lying down, and—”

“Hinata.”

Suga-san cuts Hinata’s manic rambling off, and when Hinata straightens up to look at him he realises that Suga-san is _smiling_.

“Look, I think the two of you have just been misunderstanding each other this whole time,” he says, and Hinata just looks at Suga-san like he’s just proclaimed that he’s going to become the next ruler of the sun. “I’ll talk to Kageyama too, alright? But I think the two of you should just talk it out—no, don’t give me that face, Hinata—” Hinata immediately tries to smoothen out his sour expression, with limited success. “—but, yeah, just talk it out, and maybe apologise—”

“What am I supposed to apologise for?” Hinata interjects. “ _I_ didn’t do anything, _he_ was the one who was being a jerk from the start.”

“Maybe,” Suga-san says, and he’s _still_ smiling, and yeah, _definitely_ the nicest person that Hinata’s ever met, “but maybe you could’ve made an effort to listen to his advice instead of just brushing it off too.”

“But I—”

Hinata is interrupted by the sound of the bell signifying the opening of the door, and he flushes, dusting his uniform off and moving to stand in front of the cashier.

“Just give it a try, alright?” Suga-san says as he moves away, already getting ready to brew a new cup of coffee. “You don’t have anything to lose.”

Hinata opens his mouth, ready to protest, but then the customer’s already in front of the counter, rattling off his order, and so the conversation ends right there.

-

On Sunday Hinata finds himself at the _other_ coffee shop down the street ( _is that weird, to work at one café and then frequent another? In any case he doesn’t really want to think about that particular problem right now_ ), textbook open in front of him as he cradles a cup of hot chocolate in his hands. Opposite him sits long-time friend and fellow college sufferer Kenma, who isn’t even trying to pretend that he’s actually doing anything productive. He’s tapping at his phone listlessly— _texting his boyfriend, probably,_ Hinata thinks—his textbook having mysteriously disappeared off the surface of the table.

“Maybe I should’ve worked here instead,” Hinata says miserably, leaning down slowly to press his cheek against his textbook. “I hate my job.”

“No, you don’t,” Kenma says, and though Hinata can’t see his face from where he’s resting his head on the table, he’s quite sure that Kenma probably isn’t even looking at him. Well, he’s used to that though.

“Okay, I don’t _hate_ it,” Hinata concedes. “But if that asshole Kageyama just _disappeared_ my life would be _so_ much better. Plus tomorrow’s Monday. _Hell Monday_.” Hinata groans, loudly enough that the couple sitting at the table next to theirs turns to look at him. “Sometimes I wish college would _actually_ kill me.”

“Mhm.” Kenma just makes a vague noise of acknowledgement, and Hinata groans again, burying his face between the pages of his textbook.

-

Monday comes round. Hinata very reluctantly makes his way to his workplace, praying that maybe Kageyama’s sick, or he has an appointment, or he left his job, or a comet mysteriously crashed into Kageyama’s house and Hinata will never have to see his face ever again.

As it turns out, none of the above is true, because when Hinata steps into the store Kageyama’s already there, starting up the coffee machine for the day.

“Hey,” Hinata says, tentatively, and when Kageyama ignores him, he just shrugs and walks to the backroom to deposit his stuff.

 _The two of you should just talk it out._ Suga-san’s words from the week before suddenly resurface in Hinata’s mind, and he sighs, craning his neck to look at the ceiling.

“Fine,” he says, more to himself than anything else. “I’ll try, okay, Suga-san? So when it fails _epically_ , I can at least tell you I tried.”

“Try what?”

Kageyama’s voice jolts Hinata out of his reverie, and he spins around abruptly to face Kageyama, standing by the door with an eyebrow raised, and yeah, so maybe his cheeks _are_ burning right now, but that’s totally Kageyama’s fault—as usual.

“ _Nothing_ ,” he snaps, and then regrets it immediately, because he can already picture Suga-san’s admonishing face, saying something like “ _you should have tried harder, Hinata_ ” and looking thoroughly disappointed in him.

So instead Hinata clears his throat, takes a deep breath.

“I mean,” he amends, looking down at the ground. “I was just talking to myself. It’s nothing.”

“Talking to yourself,” Kageyama repeats, drily, and it takes all of Hinata’s self-control not to go right up to Kageyama and snap his neck in half with his bare hands.

“Well—it’s really none of your business,” Hinata says hotly, and he raises his head just to watch Kageyama roll his eyes so dramatically he’s actually kind of impressed.

They stand there in silence, and _god, it’s so awkward_ , and Hinata just stares at his shoes and thinks that maybe he should go… test out the cashier or _something_ , but he can’t leave the backroom because Kageyama’s still standing frozen by the door, and _oh god, kill me now_.

When he realises that Kageyama _isn’t_ going to move unless he does something, he clears his throat, says, “Hey, if you don’t mind, could you—”

Just as Kageyama goes—

“ _I’msorryforbeinganass._ ”

And the rest of Hinata’s sentence dies in his throat immediately.

_What?_

“…huh?” Hinata says, because _what the hell just happened_ , he came in here today hoping that an asteroid had crash landed into Kageyama’s room and expecting to exchange less than two words with him, and instead—

“You heard me,” Kageyama snaps, and his head is lowered, he’s looking at the ground, and _wait, is he actually_ embarrassed—

“Oh,” Hinata says faintly, staring at Kageyama, feeling like he just found himself in an alternate dimension like in one of those weird horror movies. “Okay.”

A pause.

“Wait.” Kageyama looks up then, scowling, all traces of embarrassment immediately gone. “ _Okay_? Is _that_ all you’re going to say?”

“Well—” Hinata’s about to argue back when the image of Disapproving Suga-san pops up in his mind again, and he bites back the insult that’s already on the tip of his tongue. “—fine. I’m sorry, too.”

“ _Good_ ,” Kageyama bites out, and then silence falls over the both of them once more.

Wow. This is awkward.

“…um, if you don’t mind moving, maybe we should get back to the counter?” Hinata suggests after what feels like an hour, and Kageyama blinks, as if suddenly realising the situation that they’re in, and he finally moves aside to let Hinata push the door open and make his way out.

If they don’t talk much for the rest of the day, well—at least they’re civil. Even though it _is_ incredibly weird.

-

Two more Mondays pass with that same stilted civility, and Hinata thinks he’s about to go completely insane.

“I can’t take this anymore,” he groans, finding himself complaining to Suga-san again. “I think I actually _miss_ his bitching.”

“Do you really?” Suga-san calls from the other side of the room where he’s clearing up, and Hinata nods vigorously.

“Yes. I never thought I’d be saying this but _yes_. I’d take annoying over awkward any day.”

Suga-san falls silent, and Hinata watches him scratch his chin, looking deep in thought.

“I think,” he says at last, “you two just need to strike a balance.”

Hinata just stares.

Suga-san smiles. “Right now you have no idea how to interact with each other without tearing at each other’s throats, so trying to be civil to each other just feels like you’re walking on eggshells, right?”

“I guess—”

“Which is exactly what I mean by striking a balance.” Suga-san goes back to picking up after the last group of customers, tossing empty paper cups into a trash bag. “Somewhere in between arguing with each other every chance you guys get and being polite but awkward.”

“Easier said than done,” Hinata mumbles, frowning. He doesn’t expect it at all when he hears Suga-san’s laughter instead.

“Well,” he says. “I’m sure you guys will work something out. Maybe try to actually hold a conversation with him…”

Hinata just makes a vague gesture that’s somewhere in between a shrug and an upper-body spasm.

“I mean,” Suga continues, “I think you guys have the potential to be really good friends.”

Just as he finishes speaking Hinata slips and bashes his head into the edge of the counter.

-

Hell Monday.

There’s still a bruise on his forehead from when he’d basically slammed his head into the counter the last time he talked to Suga-san, and he remembers Takeda-san very conveniently walking into the store right at that moment and then freaking out for about ten minutes while Suga-san convinced him that no, Hianta wasn’t suffering from a concussion, and yes, he’d be perfectly fine, but maybe he should let Hinata rest at home for the day.

Everyone’s already asked him about it (except Kenma—Kenma didn’t have to ask. He just took one look at it and then Hinata launched into an explanation straightaway), so he _really_ doesn’t feel like answering when Kageyama eyeballs the purple bruise on his forehead with raised eyebrows.

“Don’t ask,” he says immediately.

“I didn’t,” Kageyama points out.

“Good,” Hinata huffs.

Silence. As usual. That awkward, awkward silence that’s making Hinata consider giving himself another bruise on the forehead.

The first customer of the day arrives, and Hinata falls back onto his now-familiar pattern of greeting customers, taking orders and giving change. It’s comfortable, and he’s so familiar with this by now, and maybe that’s why he doesn’t expect it at all when he turns around to see Kageyama still eyeing that bruise.

“Hey,” Hinata snaps, an automatic response. “I told you to quit staring—”

“Did you ice it?” Kageyama asks.

“—I said I wasn’t going to tell you about it, so… wait, what?”

“I said, did you ice it,” Kageyama repeats impatiently. “When you got the bruise. How long has it been anyway?”

“Couple of days,” Hinata says, with just the slightest tinge of apprehension, because he has _no_ idea where this conversation is heading. “And what do you mean _icing_ it—”

( _At least we’re_ having _a conversation,_ he thinks to himself. _Are you proud of me yet, Suga-san?_ )

“Are you serious?” Kageyama folds his arms, and the sour look on his face is just so familiar that Hinata has pretty much stopped bothering to return it with a glare of his own by this point. “Did you apply ice to the bruise?”

“No…” Hinata says, and Kageyama actually presses his palm to his face.

“…no wonder it’s still so bad,” he mumbles, shaking his head, and Hinata huffs.

“Hey, I can take care of myself—”

“Obviously,” Kageyama growls, “you can’t. Go get some aloe vera gel from the pharmacy after this shift and apply it to the bruise, alright? That’ll make it go away faster.”

“Oh… okay…” Hinata’s blinking, still very, very confused at the direction this conversation has taken. “I’ll… I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good.”

There’s a customer at the counter, then, so Hinata turns around to take her order, and tries to wrap his head around the conversation that just happened.

By the time the girl walks away with her cup of coffee, Hinata has concluded that he will never, ever, ever understand Kageyama.

-

“The aloe vera gel helped,” Hinata tells Kageyama the next week. The bruise is mostly gone by now, and people have stopped staring at him in the hallways, so that’s a relief.

“I told you it would work,” Kageyama says, back turned to Hinata, busy at work at the coffee machine as usual.

There’s a brief pause while the coffee machine hisses and groans and Hinata peers at it from behind Kageyama’s shoulder.

“Hey,” he says, suddenly. “Teach me how to use that.”

“What?” Kageyama says, still not looking at Hinata.

“The coffee machine,” Hinata clarifies, on his toes, trying to look over Kageyama’s shoulder, curse the height difference. “Please.”

Kageyama _does_ turn around then, and he almost knocks his head against Hinata’s – thankfully he misses by barely an inch, or else Hinata would have another bruise to answer for (although, at least now he knows what to do with it).

“Why,” Kagemaya says, and it’s less of a question and more of an expression of distaste, and Hinata shrugs.

“I dunno,” he says. “Looks cool. The way it goes _sssss_ and then _pchoo!_ and then it spits out all that coffee, plus all this other weird stuff back here that I’ve never used because I’m always stuck on cashier duty—”

“I started out on cashier duty when I first started working here too,” Kageyama says, frowning.

“Well, _somebody_ must have taught you how to work the coffee machine—”

“Fine,” Kageyama snaps. “I’ll teach you. Come here.”

Hinata starts, because he didn’t expect Kageyama to actually _agree_. He’s frozen to the spot, but then he remembers the last time he took just a moment too long to respond to Kageyama’s occasional bouts of… well, not niceness— _decency_ is probably the closest fit. So he shakes himself, and then bounces over to where Kageyama’s standing by the coffee machine.

“I’ll just start with the basics. Here’s how you make a regular espresso.”

And Hinata nods and watches quietly as Kageyama gets to work, explaining the different parts and what to add and what buttons to press, but by the time he’s done Hinata probably understands even less than what he did before.

Kageyama looks at Hinata expectantly. “Got it?”

Hinata blinks, then looks up, smiling. “Uh.”

Kageyama looks at Hinata for a very long moment, then shoves the espresso into Hinata’s hands and turns away.

“Forget it. This is why you’re always stuck on cashier duty.”

“Well, maybe you’re just a lousy teacher—”

“Get back to the cashier!” Kageyama snaps, and Hinata _could_ argue against that, but right at that moment someone comes in through the door, and so he doesn’t have a choice but to bite his tongue until the next available opportunity to yell at Kageyama again.

-

Hinata doesn’t stop bugging Kageyama about teaching him how to make coffee, though. Even if he doesn’t really understand it at first, he just likes watching Kageyama show him how it’s done, explaining the different ingredients that go into different drinks and the different measurements that go into achieving the perfect brew.

“I didn’t know you were so anal about this kind of stuff,” Hinata says one day after Kageyama finishes a long rant about how too much milk can make or break a latte.

“It’s not being _anal_ , it’s just being precise,” Kageyama retorts, and Hinata snorts.

“Don’t those two words just mean the same thing?”

“No, they do _not_. Did you fail Japanese back in high school?”

“No,” Hinata says, proudly. “Not in the final exam anyway.”

“Not in the final exam…” Kageyama mutters.

“Shut up,” Hinata says cheerfully. “Anyway, I just wanted to ask, what about for custom mixes? You know, like the girl who came in the other day and asked for a ferrero rocher?”

“Well, they provide a recipe, don’t they?”

“Yeah, but those don’t usually provide measurements and stuff right? It’s just a vague outline of the ingredients. So what do you do then?”

“Estimate?” Kageyama says, shrugging.

“Yeah, well, but I thought that wouldn’t be good enough for someone as anal as you—”

“ _Stop calling me that,_ ” Kageyama hisses, punching Hinata on the arm, and Hinata winces, rubbing at the sore area.

“Fine, fine, sorry,” he mumbles. “ _Anal_.”

He has to duck under the counter to avoid being hit by the paper cup Kageyama flings at his head.

-

The week after that Hinata crash lands into work with a piece of paper in his hand, which he presses into Kageyama’s, grinning broadly the whole while.

“What the hell is this?” Kageyama grouses, smoothing the paper out to read what’s written there.

“It’s a recipe,” Hinata says proudly. “I was looking at some online and I came up with a few of my own, and I—”

“No way,” Kageyama says immediately. “I am _not_ helping you test out your crackpot custom drinks.”

As he speaks he makes a motion like he’s about to scrunch the piece of paper into a ball, and Hinata jumps up, snatching the paper back from him before it can come to any harm.

“Hey!” he squawks indignantly, shielding his magnum opus from Kageyama’s murderous gaze. “Don’t be a dick, you haven’t even _looked_ at it yet—”

“What do _you_ know about custom drinks?”

“I don’t know all that crap about measurements and proportions you keep going on about,” Hinata relents agreeably. “But I _do_ know what tastes good together.”

“No.”

“Please.”

“No.”

“Kageyama.”

“No.”

“I’ll tell Suga-san you were picking on me again.”

“…”

“Maybe I’ll just text him right now—”

“ _Fine_. I’ll take a look.”

Hinata grins, looking far too pleased with himself, and he hands the piece of paper over to Kageyama once more. He watches as Kageyama squints at his handwriting, eyes scanning the words on the page, and it’s with no small measure of satisfaction that he sees Kageyama’s eyes widen in surprise.

“…I guess I could give it a try,” he says, at last, and Hinata practically _beams_ at him.

“I told you it would work.”

“Shut up. We haven’t even actually tried it yet,” Kageyama mutters, but he’s already turning to the coffee machine with the piece of paper still in his hand.

Hinata watches as he gets to work, starting with a regular espresso and then adding ingredients as he goes. It’s _fun_ to watch, really, and it _would_ be pretty funny how serious Kageyama gets over something as simple as coffee, but still, the end result _is_ going to be pretty darn amazing, so he doesn’t complain, just waits patiently as Kageyama finishes the drink off with a generous topping of whipped cream and hazelnut syrup.

“So, how is it?” Hinata asks, bouncing up and down on the soles of his feet.

“ _I haven’t even tried it yet_ ,” Kageyama repeats, glaring, then raises the cup to his lips and takes a tentative sip.

His eyes widen suddenly, and his hand pauses in mid-air, the cup of coffee still held to his lips.

“Is it good?” Hinata asks, blinking, shifting his weight from foot to foot, and Kageyama finally snaps out of his reverie long enough to hand the cup of coffee to Hinata.

“Here.”

Hinata takes the cup from Kageyama eagerly, and raises it to his lips immediately.

There’s a flash of taste, before the sensation of a burnt tongue hits him like a brick to his face.

“Owowowow _ow_ ,” he whines, slamming the cup down on the counter behind him, and he brushes past Kageyama to reach for the jug of water they keep at the back, pouring himself a cup and gulping it down straightaway.

“You _idiot_ ,” Kageyama hisses, and Hinata just grins sheepishly.

“…Well, but it was good, right?” he offers weakly. Kageyama looks distinctly unamused.

-

“You know,” Hinata says, later that day, when they’re clearing up for Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san to take over the next shift. “We should start including our custom mixes on the menu too.”

Kageyama doesn’t reply, but Hinata can tell he’s thinking about it, so he gives Kageyama his space, lets him mull in silence.

“You’re right,” Kageyama says eventually. “We should tell Suga-san, since he’s the only one who talks to Takeda-san directly on a regular basis.”

“Yeah!” Hinata’s a lot louder than he’d intended to be, and Kageyama startles at the outburst. “Let’s tell him on Wednesday, on our evening shift!”

“Sounds good,” Kageyama says. “Bring your recipe again on Wednesday then.”

“Yeah.” Hinata grins. “I will!”

-

He doesn’t.

“I’m _soooooorry_ , Kageyama,” Hinata whines, but Kageyama just continues pulling at Hinata’s ear while simultaneously bowing to Suga-san.

“I’m sorry for you too,” Kageyama mutters.

“Kageyama, let Hinata go,” Suga-san says sternly, but the smile tugging at the corners of his lips betrays him. “You guys can always make your mix for me another day. It’s not like we don’t see each other often.”

“I guess so,” Hinata says, rubbing his ear while shooting Kageyama a dirty look. If Kageyama sees it, he ignores it.

“But still, you’ll talk to Takeda-san?” Kageyama says instead, and Suga-san smiles.

“I will, the next time I see him,” Suga-san promises, and Kageyama and Hinata exchange looks, grinning.

“Thank you very much!” they say in unison, both bowing as they speak, and Suga-san just beams at them.

“You guys really have become great friends now, huh?” he comments.

Kageyama and Hinata exchange another look, but they’re not smiling this time.

“ _No way!_ ” they both yell at the same time, jumping apart immediately. (Suga-san just smiles.)

-

Time goes by. Kageyama is… well, Hinata’s not sure he’d call him a _friend_ , not in the strictest sense of the word. He’s not a friend like Kenma is, isn’t exactly someone he’d go to to talk about his problems or complain about his particularly tyrannical college professor to, but… well, he doesn’t dread Mondays anymore, at least.

In fact, he’s actually come to… look forward to it. Just a little.

Kageyama’s still an asshole. He still yells and insults and isn’t afraid to lift Hinata up by the collar of his shirt just to prove a point when he gets pissed off (which is often). Still, Hinata’s come to realise that it isn’t because Kageyama hates him in particular or anything like that – that’s just Kageyama being Kageyama. Angry _is_ his default state. So Hinata’s started just giving him shit-eating grins in return to his angry tirades instead of rising to the bait and arguing back, and somehow it’s been working really, really well.

“He’s not that bad,” he admits, once, to Kenma, and Kenma actually looks up from his phone, one eyebrow raised.

He remembers what Suga had told him, a while back, about striking a balance, and he thinks – _this is it_. He’s happy with his job, he’s not drowning in unfinished assignments and late essays, and he hasn’t failed any of his exams (yet).

 _Yeah_ , he thinks. _Life is good_.

-

One day he gets a phone call telling him that Suga-san’s sick, and _would you mind filling in for me? Just for today, thank you so much, Hinata!_ and Hinata should _really_ start learning how to say no Suga-san.

That’s how he finds himself awake bright and early on a Tuesday morning, and if he almost crashes his bike into a lamp post on his way to work, well, that just means Suga-san will have to treat him to a _really_ good meal after this.

Suga-san takes his morning shifts alone, partly because they’re understaffed, and partly because Suga-san is (by far) the most capable out of all the baristas working here, and although that might work for Suga-san, who spends his time either studying or reading, Hinata finds himself ready to throw himself out the window within the first hour.

He’s so _bored_ he thinks he might actually start crying. Business is really slow too, and there is absolutely nothing to do. A guy can only play so many rounds of QuizUp without boring himself to death.

The bell rings, and Hinata straightens up, sliding his phone back into his pocket.

“Good morning, welcome to—” he starts to say, but then he stops when he realises that this is the guy whom he almost spilled a cup of coffee all over on his first day of the job.

AKA the guy that Suga-san won’t shut up about.

“Hey,” the guy— _what’s his name again_ —says, walking up to the counter. “Where’s Suga?”

Hinata squints at him. “Suga-san is sick,” he says, frowning, trying to remember his name. _It starts with a ‘d’… Daisuke… Daiki… no, wait, it’s_ Daichi _, right_ — “You’re Daichi, right? He talks about you a lot.”

The guy blinks, looking really confused for a moment, and Hinata can practically see the gears turning in his head.

“Uh. Yeah, I’m Daichi,” he says. “Is Suga okay?”

Hinata shrugs. “He said it’s just a cold, but I dunno, it’s just like Suga-san to make it sound less serious that it actually is, you know?”

He watches as Daichi pauses again, longer this time, before answering.

“Yeah,” he says. “I know.”

There’s a very awkward silence, then, because Hinata doesn't have anything else to add, and okay, he’s not here to make conversation with other people’s not-boyfriends, whatever the hell is going on between Suga-san and this guy, he’s just here to make coffee, and is he going to order anything or what?

“Uh—a medium cappuccino to go, thanks,” Daichi says at last, and Hinata nods, cashes in the guy’s money before moving to the back to make his drink.

By now he’s finally learnt how to actually make drinks, thanks to the combined efforts of Kageyama and Suga-san, and as he punches the buttons and grabs the paper cups he isn’t really thinking about the process of making coffee.

He’s thinking about that poor schmuck standing in front of the counter, who obviously came in here today hoping to see Suga-san and got Hinata instead. He thinks about what Suga-san has told him about this Daichi person. And he thinks about that kicked puppy look on Daichi’s face when he’d told him about Suga-san being sick.

He looks at the paper cup in his hand, and immediately makes a decision.

Taking a deep breath, he pulls the phone out of his pocket while reaching for a marker.

He looks for Suga-san’s number in his contact list, pops the cap off the marker, and then writes down the string of numbers on the cardboard cup sleeve.

When Hinata finally re-emerges he’s fidgeting, shifting his weight from foot to foot, but—okay, he’s sure Suga-san won’t kill him for this.

He’s at least 30% sure.

“Okay,” Hinata says, before taking a deep breath, looking at Daichi’s really confused expression. “Don’t tell Suga-san I was the one who told you this, but I wrote his number down on the cup.”

Daichi blinks again, looking even _more_ confused.

“I think—I think he’d want you to call, but at the same time he  _wouldn’t_ , because if he’s  _really_  sick he wouldn’t want anyone to know about it, and… And, just don’t tell him it was me, okay?” he finishes, lamely, and he looks up hopefully at Daichi’s face. He’s staring at the numbers on his cup, looking like a proverbial deer in the headlights, which Hinata takes as a good sign.

“Okay,” he says, finally, his voice coming out a little bit strangled. “Thanks. Really. I owe you one.”

Hinata blinks, but then he takes a good look at Daichi’s face—nervous and relieved and scared and confused all at once—and he can’t help it. He grins.

“No prob!” he calls to Daichi’s retreating figure. “Now go give Suga-san a call!”

Daichi pauses, already pushing the door open, and he turns around to look at Hinata, smiling.

“I will,” he calls back, and then he’s gone.

-

Suga-san comes into work next day looking like he just won the lottery _and_ got crowned king of some mysterious beach island at the same time.

“Thanks, Hinata,” is the first thing he says, and Hinata colours.

“I—I told him not to tell you it was me!” Hinata protests, and Suga-san’s grin grows even wider at that (if that’s even possible).

“He didn’t, it was just really obvious.”

Hinata’s shoulders sag, and he pouts. “You’re not mad at me, are you?”

“Mad? Of course not,” Suga-san says, and he actually reaches out to ruffle Hinata’s hair, and wow, Suga-san must be _really_ happy, huh.

“W-well!” Hinata pries Suga-san’s hand off the top of his head. “I’m just really happy for you, Suga-san!”

Suga-san puts his hand down, and the grin on his face shifts to something warmer, gentler, fonder, and he reaches out to pat Hinata’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Hinata,” he says, and Hinata beams at Suga-san.

“You’re welcom—” he starts, to say, but then Suga-san interrupts him:

“Well, it’s about time you and Kageyama got together too, isn’t it?”

Hinata’s not quite sure how he does it, but at that precise moment he slips and bashes his head against the counter all over again.

-

(He remembers to ice the bruise this time.)

-

Hinata will see Kageyama again on Monday, and he’s not quite sure how he feels about that.

His mind’s been out of whack ever since Suga-san’s little throwaway comment, and it shouldn’t bother him this much but it _is_ , and he can’t stop thinking about it.

“Why would I ever want to date a jerk like Kageyama,” he says to himself, once, but the words sound fake and flimsy even to his own ears.

He’s so _stupid_. He can’t believe it took him all these months and one little comment from Suga-san to finally realise it.

“Oh god, I have a crush on Kageyama Tobio,” he whispers to himself in horror the day he comes to that realisation.

He’s going to die.

He’s quite sure that if he so much as made _eye contact_ with Kageyama he’d end up either evaporating from the face of the earth or sinking into the floor and never coming back up ever again.

He’s so, so, so dead.

He goes to Kenma for advice, but Kenma just looks at him blankly and says, in his usual monotonous voice, “Maybe you should just ask him out.”

And Hinata wants to retort that his boyfriend is a nerd with perpetual bedhead, what does _he_ know, but then he thinks about Suga-san, and that Daichi guy, and his little sister who’s probably dated more people already than Hinata has his entire life, and okay. Maybe he’s actually right.

So. What.

Does he just stroll into the café on Monday and ask him out? Because Hinata is pretty sure that guys like Kageyama don’t date guys like Hinata. Guys like Kageyama don’t date, _period_. And oh god, does he even _like_ guys?

Hinata doesn’t want to think about this any longer. He’s pretty sure if he does he’s going to end up throwing up.

That doesn’t stop the anxiety that attacks him constantly over the next few days, and when Monday finally arrives, Hinata finds himself wishing that the roof will just cave in on him.

(Obviously, it doesn’t.)

-

It’s like Hell Monday all over again, except completely different at the same time.

Hinata comes into work first, which… is a relief. At least that means he doesn’t have to test out the eye-contact-with-Kageyama-equals-his-breakfast-on-the-floor-in-front-of-him theory yet.

He goes to the backroom, shrugs off his coat and deposits his bag.

He’s going to ask Kageyama out. That’s what he decided the night before. He’s going to man up, and ask Kageyama out. He’s not going to stutter, or stumble, or end up slamming his forehead into the counter again. _He’s going to ask Kageyama out, and if he doesn’t at least try to ask he’ll—_

“Hey.”

Hinata turns around, slowly, already knowing what he’s going to see—Kageyama, standing there, probably with his arms crossed and ready to give Hinata another lecture about spacing out for no reason, unbeknownst to the fact that Hinata’s spent the entire weekend agonising about the best way to ask him out and definitely _not_ thinking about how nice he looks when he actually stops frowning long enough to smile.

At least, that’s what he expects to see, but instead—

“Here.”

Directly in Hinata’s line of vision are two movie tickets to the latest new action flick shoved under his nose.

Kageyama’s standing in front of Hinata, holding on to said tickets, but he’s not looking at Hinata—he’s looking away, at the door, shoulders tense and cheeks pink, and—

“Wha?” Hinata says before he can stop himself, and he sees the exact moment that Kageyama snaps.

“Take one,” he barks, his grip on the tickets tightening—Hinata can see them starting to crumple under his grasp.

“Huh?” Hinata says, because he _genuinely_ doesn’t understand what’s going on.

“For god’s sake—” Kageyama turns, then, actually looking at Hinata now, and—

“I’m asking you out, dumbass,” he mutters, face red, and oh. _Oh._ “So just take the damn ticket already.”

“But I was supposed to ask _you_ out,” is the first thing out of Hinata’s mouth because he’s not thinking right now, probably isn’t even _capable_ of thinking at the moment because it feels like his brain’s just short-circuited inside his skull.

“Then it doesn’t matter, does it?” Kageyama hisses, impatient. “Just _take_ it already, Hinata.”

And then suddenly, like the light switch being turned on, Hinata’s eyes widen, the full realisation of what just happened hitting him like a lightning bolt, and he practically _jumps_ , extricating one of the tickets from Kageyama’s grip, grinning the whole while, a funny swooping session starting to develop in his gut, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever stop grinning.

“Okay,” Hinata says, beaming, and Kageyama colours, turning away again. “I’ll go out with you, Kageyama.”

“Good,” Kageyama says. He’s still not looking at Hinata, but Hinata can tell that he’s… he’s actually _smiling_ , just the slightest curve to the corners of his lips, but still. He’s _smiling_. Hinata _made_ him smile. “Don’t be late.”

“I won’t,” Hinata promises, and just keeps on smiling stupidly—smiling throughout the entire shift, throughout all of his classes after that, and of course, later, when he turns up at the movie theatre with Kageyama already there, hands in his pockets and waving when he sees Hinata.

And if that funny swooping sensation is there again and makes Hinata’s heart constrict kinda weirdly in his chest, well, what the hell. He’s happy. He’s really, really, _really_ happy.

And he thinks Kageyama is, too.

**Author's Note:**

> *title of this fic from i never planned on you/don't come a-knocking from the musical newsies, so, like, continuing the theme of naming the fics from this series after cheesy (or not-so-cheesy) showtunes
> 
> *second in the coffee shop au series! if you haven't read the first one yet i suggest you do, because the daisuga part will probably make a lot more sense then
> 
> *i will be participating in the haikyuu summer big bang (basically just an event where artists and writers collab) where i'll be writing a monster of an iwaoi fic, so stay tuned for that - until then this fic series will be put on hold!
> 
> *the only reason why this fic is rated T is because kageyama has a potty mouth. i'm sorry that they don't even kiss or anything like that


End file.
